Impact of Activity Participation on the Risk of Mortality and Hospitalizations in Danish Men and Women: Insights from REGLINK-SHAREDK

Background: Previous evidence shows that religious service attendance is associated with lower mortality among women and fewer hospitalizations among men. However, it is unclear if similar associations exist for other activities. Methods: This cohort study examines the associations between various activities and their engagement levels on mortality and hospitalizations among 2987 Danes aged 40+ years, interviewed in SHARE from 2004 to 2007. The study followed individuals in the Danish registers until 2018. We estimated relative and absolute risks of mortality at age 90 and used negative binomial regressions for hospitalizations, including adjustment for several potential confounders. Results: Overall, activity participation was associated with lower mortality. Specifically, individuals participating in voluntary or charity work (relative risks [RR] = 0.85; 95% CI = 0.76, 0.95; risk differences [RD] = -0.11; 95% CI = -0.18, -0.04), helping others (RR = 0.88; 95% CI = 0.82, 0.95; RD = -0.09; 95% CI = -0.14, -0.04), or participating in sports or social clubs (RR = 0.89; 95% CI = 0.81, 0.98; RD = -0.09; 95% CI = -0.15, -0.03) exhibited lower mortality. We found lower mortality among women who took part in a religious organization. Our results showed fewer hospitalizations for men who engaged in 3+ activities, and for men who took part in a religious organization. For some activities, the strength of associations varied with activity frequency; for example, caring for the sick was associated with fewer hospitalizations but only when done less than once a week. Conclusions: Several activities were associated with lower mortality, particularly among women. However, the reduced hospitalizations observed among men attending religious services did not extend to other activities.